Daily News

February 28, 2005

Almost 300 McMaster employees and their families attended two showings of The Wiz over the weekend. Produced by the McMaster Musical Theatre Group, the show had the crowds laughing and cheering as Dorothy valiantly tried to make her way home to Kansas.

February 25, 2005

It's 12 p.m. and McMaster's aptly named fitness centre is thriving. A group of cyclists spin to loud, energetic music aside the vigorous movement of feet landing rhythmically upon rows of treadmills. In front of mirrors, weightlifters pump iron, and bodies stretch atop maroon mats marking the beginning or end of a workout. This is a typical snapshot of The Pulse - one of McMaster's most popular destinations.

February 23, 2005

This year was a successful year for the McMaster chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB). Founded in 2000, the international charitable organization is dedicated to providing access to technologies to developing countries around the world to break economic, social and judicial barriers. EWB's national membership has grown exponentially over the past five years to include 6,000 members nationwide with chapters in 22 Canadian universities. But growth hasn't stopped there as this past year McMaster was one of the first Canadian universities to extend the scope of first-year engineering design to incorporate international development activities.

February 23, 2005

A journey through war-torn Rwanda with Canadian Lt-General Romeo Dallaire; a walk through Tibetian monasteries; a visit to the 'Ground Zeros' of the planet -- these are just some of the expeditions taken in the five films to be screened at McMaster's first annual Peace Film Festival March 2-6.

February 23, 2005

Making Canada more competitive was one theme in Wednesday's federal budget that recognized the important role of university research in developing economic prosperity and social benefits for Canadians. Ralph Goodale, the Minister of Finance, announced the government's budget in Ottawa today, which included indirect support for research, and increased funding to research granting councils of $375-million over five years. For McMaster, this would amount to a potential increase in funding of about $3.5-million over that period.

February 22, 2005

Richard Slobodin, one of the finest ethnographers to work among the First Nations peoples of the Canadian north, and one of the founders of the Department of Anthropology at McMaster University, passed away in Hamilton on Jan. 22, 2005. Born in New York City on March 6, 1915, he was just short of his 90th birthday.

February 22, 2005

Microchips for treating heart disease and cancer. Synthetic tissue for treating severe burns and vascular disease. These are just two examples of a new generation of biomaterials that are being developed to treat life-threatening medical conditions. And this is only the beginning.

February 21, 2005

More than 400 McMaster employees and their families were in attendance for the annual Employee Appreciation Day Basketball Event sponsored by the McMaster Employee Spirit Society (M.E.S.S.!). Along with complimentary tickets to the game, the employees enjoyed refreshments, doors prizes and face-painting.

February 18, 2005

Two McMaster University studies, to be published in the Journal of Virology, show that sex hormones have a profound effect on susceptibility of female mice to the herpes simplex virus, type 2 (HSV-2 ), one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases.

February 18, 2005

Educators can simulate some clinical experiences for physiotherapy and occupational therapy students at McMaster University, but they can't simulate real-life health care. That's where local health care providers come in. Acting as preceptors, area clinicians welcome students into their practices, providing opportunities for students to apply the knowledge they've learned at university.

February 17, 2005

Recognizing the increasing role of technology in health care, McMaster has established a School of Biomedical Engineering. The School, created jointly by the Faculties of Engineering and Health Sciences, will begin operating for the 2005/2006 academic year. The McMaster School of Biomedical Engineering (MSBE) brings together existing bioengineering-related activities at the University and expands into emerging areas of biomolecular, biomedical and bioengineering research.

February 16, 2005

Is it possible to improve memory? How does the brain control emotions? What percentage of our lives do we spend sleeping? High school students from Hamilton and the surrounding area will be answering these questions and more at the second annual McMaster Brain Bee. Similar to a spelling bee, Brain Bee competitors take turns answering questions about the brain and neuroscience. The questions relate to sleep, stress, memory, intelligence, neuroanatomy, movement, perception and emotions.

February 14, 2005

That sought-after trait in a mate -- "good sense of humour" -- is more complex than originally thought. In fact, men and women define it differently. Eric Bressler, a graduate student at McMaster University who is studying the role of humour in personal attraction, discovered in a survey of 150 students that to a woman, "sense of humour" means someone who makes her laugh; to a man, a sense of humour means someone who appreciates his jokes.

February 14, 2005

Forget a box of chocolates and a dozen roses. When it comes to attracting a mate, the male sagebrush cricket brings a special nuptial gift to his partner. During copulation, these insect Romeos offer their Juliets a peculiar food gift: females chew off the ends of the males' fleshy hind wings and ingest fluid that is seeping from the wounds they inflict.

February 14, 2005

Donna Haraway, a history professor from the University of California at Santa Cruz will deliver this week's Whidden Lectures at McMaster University. The first lecture, "We Have Never Been Human: Companion Species in Nature Cultures," takes place Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Ewart Angus Centre in Health Science Centre. It will examine how to think jointly through biology, poststructuralist philosophy and science studies. Haraway will flesh out what she means by "companion species in naturecultures" as a way to inhabit multi-species worlds without the pitched battles between modernist humanism and its posts.

February 11, 2005

The McMaster Museum of Art is presenting its latest exhibit "Leaving Their Mark" by Shelly Bahl, Yael Brotman and Libby Hague from Feb. 13 to May 15, 2005. A public reception will take place Sunday March 6, from 2 - 4 p.m. with a lunchtime talk by Alison McQueen on Thursday, March 17 at 12:30 p.m.

February 11, 2005

William Spaulding, MD William Spaulding was one of the pioneers who developed the innovative medical school launched at McMaster University. As the associate dean of . . .

February 11, 2005

A meticulous diary kept by a mother of twins has revealed indicators of autistic behaviour in children as young as six months of age. The findings are published today in Neurocase. Mel Rutherford, assistant professor of psychology at McMaster University, says the diary provides a rare and unprecedented opportunity to observe the early development of autism. She says the mother of fraternal twins recorded her observations almost daily for about five years, beginning before the twins' birth. She charted the children's development in speech, social interactions, growth, and sleep disturbances, unaware that one twin was autistic until a diagnosis was made at three years of age.

February 11, 2005

Four accomplished scholars met recently at McMaster Divinity College for a student organized conference to discuss the current dialogue or lack thereof between philosophy and theology in Canada and around the world.

February 11, 2005

Three pioneers of McMaster University's medical school, a nursing leader and the first health sciences librarian, were inducted today into the Faculty of Health Sciences Community of Distinction in a ceremony that celebrated the Faculty's roots and founders. The photographs and biographies of the five are displayed in a gallery on a second floor wall in McMaster's Health Sciences Centre.